Pastor arrested for defaming Park

A local pastor has been arrested on charges of defaming incoming South Korean President Park Geun-hye by falsely claiming that she bribed late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, prosecutors said Friday.

On two video clips posted on the Internet, Reverend Cho Woong claimed that Park had handed over tens of billions of won, equivalent to tens of millions of U.S. dollars, to Kim during her visit to Pyongyang in 2002, prosecutors said.

The videos spread quickly on social networking sites, topping more than 200,000 hits in few days.

A local civic group soon lodged accusations against Cho, prompting the prosecution to place Cho under an emergency arrest.

The Korea Communications Commission, which oversees the government’s broadcasting policies, blocked access to the two video clips on YouTube and other portal sites, they said. (Yonhap News)